The man in the box
by SherlockWasHere
Summary: Grace Nova Martin has a sad past, but she has an extraordinary future. Join her as she gets in to a blue box in an alley with a man shes never met, and gets catapulted in to the biggest adventure of her life.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Grace ran down the sidewalk one night, barely noticing her surroundings. She had gone to a nearby building and snuck up to the roof to look at the stars. There weren't many places in London to stargaze, but she knew of a few within walking distance from her flat. Whenever her father left for the pub, she left for the rooftops. On this particular night however, she had dozed off on the roof, and hadn't woken up until two in the morning. The knot in her stomach told her he was home by now, sitting at the kitchen table waiting for her. She dreaded what was to come. Her father was violent when he was drunk. It was why her mum had left them, and now he was channeling the violence towards Grace. She hated him, and dreamed of running away every night.

She reached the front door, and with shaking hands, inserted her key. The kitchen light switched on.

"Well if it isn't Gracie Nova Martin. Been out on the town have yah? Had big plans you forgot to mention maybe?" Her father slurred at her.

"I- I was just…"

"Don't talk back to your father!" He roared, standing up quickly. Grace tried to sink against the door. "You've been nothing but trouble lately, and you deserve a good smack!" He raised his hand, punching her square in the eye. The world spun for a second, but before it could stop, she had turned and bolted out the door.

She ran and ran, toppling over rubbish bins and sobbing the whole way. She had known for a while there would be a breaking point when both she and her father would snap at the same time, and the world would come crumbling down, but she had never guessed it would come so soon. She felt her lungs begin to burn, and sank down against a wall. She sat for a minute, gingerly touching her swollen eye.

No less than a minute later, several alley cats and nearly a hundred mice began scurrying out of a nearby alley. It was strange, but even stranger was the noise coming from the alley. It was an electronic sounding whir that pulsated in time with bright white lights. Grace stared, utterly horrified and completely enthralled. She rounded the corner without a second thought.

She was actually rather disappointed by what was around the corner. It was a blue police box, like the kind from old movies. She was disappointed until a funny looking man burst through the doors. He sported a tweed jacket, suspenders, and a red bowtie. They both stared at each other for a moment before grace managed to speak.

"Hello. Where'd you come from?"

"None of that matters right now! Where'd did _you_ come from? Where are you going? Would you like a ride? I suggest you get in the box."

"Excuse me? What on earth for?"

"Well, it appears you're being chased."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Immediately assuming it was her father, Grace pushed past the man and slammed the police box's doors shut behind her. Her breath stopped in her throat. Inside the tiny police box was an enormous room, with corridors leading off in many different directions. She hung on to the door handle, simultaneously admiring the room and listening for her father's voice outside. The room looked like a control panel or something. There were buttons and levers and monitors everywhere. Grace could barely tear her eyes away, and only did when she heard the man from the box exclaim "You again?!" from outside. There was a green light that shone through the glass windows, then buzzing noises. She poked her head out, then stepped out and closed the door behind her. There was a figure on the ground, but it wasn't the box man. The box man was leaning over the figure, seemingly probing it with some sort of green flashlight.

Grace moved closer and saw the thing on the ground. It looked like a humanoid robot, with angular body parts and a rectangular bar above its head.

"What _is_ that thing? What have you done to it? Is it dead? What's that little light? And why is your box bigger on-"

"God you're curious, considering you just met me in an alley two minutes ago. An ordinary person would be running by now. "

"Well maybe I'm not ordinary. Please explain everything that's just happened."

"Well, that is a cyberman. It's a cyborg. It's not dead, just stunned. This is a sonic screwdriver, and it is what I used to stun it. And that-" The man paused, pointing to the police box "Is a TARDIS. It stands for Time and Relative Space and Time. Basically, It can take you anywhere in time and space you want to go. Now, I have several questions for you. Who are you, what are you doing here, and why on earth are you out so late? You seem… young."

Grace took offense for some reason.

"Why should you care?" She asked, backing away from him slightly.

"Well, just wondering. I just answered all of your questions." He said, grinning at her. He seemed to enjoy their conversation.

"Fine. My name is Grace Nova Martin, I'm 17, but I look younger. And I'm here because I ran away. I got punched for sneaking out to look at the stars."

"Well that's fantastic!"

"Excuse me?"

"Well you're a runaway, and you like stars. Ever want to travel to them?"

"To the stars? Of course! Who doesn't?"

"Come with me, and you'll see the stars and so much more."

"One last question… what are you? Who are you?"

"I'm a 900 year old alien with two hearts with two hearts."

"Yes, but what's your name. I'll go with you if you just tell me."

"I'm the doctor."

"Doctor… who?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

The Doctor held open the door of the TARDIS for Grace. He followed once she stepped inside. In the light of the console room, he looked at her more closely. It had been hard to see her in the dim alley. She was tall, with mahogany hair, a round face and large blue eyes that made her look so young. She looked directly at him, and he noticed her left eye had a dark, puffy ring around it.

"Are you ok?" he asked, his face crossed with true concern. It was a look that Grace hadn't seen on anyone in a while.

"Oh, my eye?" She said, unconsciously brushing her hair over it. "It's fine. I'm used to it."

"You sure? There's a medical bay down that hall if you need it." He pointed down one of the many corridors leading off of the console room. Grace smiled appreciatively but said nothing.

She walked slowly examining the TARDIS's entirety. The Doctor was fiddling with the panels in the center of the room.

"So Grace, all of time and space-" he was cut off as Grace tripped over her own feet. He couldn't help but chuckle. "You honestly expect me to call you Grace with reflexes like that? What did you say your middle name was? Nova, right? That suits you much better."

She blushed a bit, but laughed along with him.

"You're right. Gracefulness isn't exactly my strong suit."

"What is then?" He asked, turning away from the control panels to look at her. She leaned against the railing behind her with her arms folded.

"Well, on any other day, I would say my common sense, or my intelligence. But today is different. I just met a man in an alley and agreed to get in to his time machine police box. But there's something different about you. You're the first person, well, alien-"

"Time Lord."

"Bloody hell! Whatever you are! What I'm trying to say is, I trust you. And I don't trust many people. Anyone, actually. So thank you." She looked down at the ground, before lifting her eyes and cracking a cheeky smile.

"So, Nova. All of time and space, everywhere and anywhere, every star that ever was. Where do you want to start?"

"Any star? Ever? What about nebulas? How about the Eagle Nebula, or maybe the Trifid Nebula or NGC 6357."

"Never mind I've got a better idea. How about you shut up and I surprise you, yah? I don't like it when other people know where they're going. It's less fun that way, and honestly, I have no clue what you're talking about anyways. You humans have funny names for things. What does NGC 6357 even mean…"

As he rattled on, the TARDIS began to shake and whir again. The doctor threw his arms up, and with an energetic spin shouted: "Geronimo!"


	4. Hello All!

Hello all! Sorry about the lack of chapters! April vacation was very busy. I went to New York and saw lots and lots of statues and blinked very few times. Anyways, chapters are being created for ALL my stories, so it could be a while. But fret not whovians! This story's chapters are going to be very long now, which means no more 400 word paragraphs.

P.S: Any requests for characters or aliens you want to see? Feel free to message me or leave it in the reviews.

P.P.S: What's your favorite song currently?


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